... but it's MY blog and hockey is my LIFE from now until mid-June when The Cup is hoisted and skated around the ice, hopefully in Dee-troit. But a road win clinching The Cup (see: last year in that city somewhere in Pennsylvania) would be almost as good.
That said... there's this, from The Hockey News:
(h/t: The BEST hockey blog in all of Christendom... Kukla's Korner)
That said... there's this, from The Hockey News:
This week the THN Top 10 counts down the NHL’s 10 best lines.
Now before everyone gets all in a tizzy over the combinations listed below, let it be known we worked off the depth charts sent to us last week by our 30 NHL correspondents – all of whom cover their respective teams for major dailies in those cities. So although you might think you’ve got the finger on the pulse of your favorite club, these are the guys who watch every game, go to every practice and have access to players and coaches almost daily.
We’ve also gone with just one line per team, because we didn’t think it fair for Detroit and Philadelphia to take up 40 percent of the list. Finally, this list is both subjective and objective, the former because we took into account intangibles such as leadership and all-around play, the latter because we also looked at pure numbers. But needless to say, any team in the league would take any of these 10 lines on their team.
Lines are listed as left wing–center–right wing.
I couldn't have said it better myownself. Read the whole thing and see if you agree. Jimmy T's prediction of a Dee-troit - Philly Final might come to pass. That wouldn't be a BAD thing in my book... no sir, not at ALL.
1. Johan Franzen – Pavel Datsyuk – Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit Red Wings
The choice in Hockeytown was even tougher than the one in Philly. But Datsyuk is the premier defensive forward in the league and has a 24-point lead in the Red Wing scoring race. Plus the line owns a cumulative plus-63 rating and has scored 29 power play goals and 11 game winners. As for its No. 1 position on the list, when you’re the best line on the deepest team in hockey, which also happens to be the defending Stanley Cup-champion, you deserve it.
(h/t: The BEST hockey blog in all of Christendom... Kukla's Korner)
Who could possibly get tired of reading about the BEST team in hockey? Can't even fathom the thought! I wish they hadn't limited Detroit to just the one line...would've been cool to see them ALL up in the top ten...
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Buck, I look forward just as much as you to the "second" season. I do wish the NHL would do something about the length of the season, I just don't think this many regular season games is good for the sport, but I digress.
ReplyDeleteI was going to be real upset over the Flyers being ranked 3rd overall however, the line combo with Sid the Kid on it was way down there in 8th place and I felt better. And I would agree with the #2 Line and I think it could challenge that Detroit line. I can say that because the Flyers have to play that line a lot in a season and they are really good.
Bring on the Play-Off's I say!!!
BT: Jimmy T sends.
Hockey is not my favorite subject, but I do like it when you keep us informed of Hockey news. Every once in a while, I impress someone with my hockey knowledge :)
ReplyDeleteI'm just looking forward to the Bruins *maybe* getting out of the first round for a change. They've slipped a bit as of late, but still have a healthy lead on NJ for that top spot in the east.
ReplyDeleteBuck: I was glad to see 'em take the top spot... coz you know how success breeds contempt. Or mebbe that's envy...
ReplyDeleteJimmy: I agree with you on the length of the season. I think 60 games would be about right for the regular season, but scheduling would become MORE of a problem than it already is. I read frequent columns in the Detroit press about the Wings lousy schedule, especially at the beginning of this season when people weren't expecting much out of the Central Division. Maybe that's changed now that CBJ is on something of a roll.
This may be heresy... but perhaps it's time to down-size the league, rather than add those teams in Vegas and OKC I hear about periodically.
I also agree with you on that #2 line... we've only seen the Devils once this year and we beat 'em at The Joe... early on in the season.
Lou: I'm glad to be of service, ya know! One of my minor missions in life is to bring hockey to the masses, LOL! ;-)
Jim: I think the B's will make it out of the first round unless there's some sort of TOTAL melt-down, but I don't think that's likely. But then again... there were a few years the Wings broke my heart with early exits. That frickin' HURTS. I think you guys should have taken Montreal last year, by all rights. That was a great series...could have gone either way.